Descent into the Abyss

Chapter 5

          The light of the early morning shone through his bedroom window, illuminating the interior of his room as Chris opened his eyes and stared at the opposite wall. His eyes scanned the bookshelves and the numerous contents lining the shelves, remembering briefly the accomplishments and fun he had with his friends getting each one of those. As his eyes fell over one of them in particular, a deep pain resonated within him, and a childhood memory began to play out in his mind.

          His team around him, a sea of blue and grey, and their opponents clad in their uniforms of red and white, all observing the baseball field in front of them with their coaches, family, and friends behind them cheering them on. It was Game 2 of their winner-takes-all series for the Little League Regional Championship, and they had to defeat their opponents once more to claim the chance to advance to the State Championship. His father had been so proud when they won the first match, but later that night, when the final ball had been thrown and hit... he could see the disappointment in his father's eyes. The second-place trophy on the shelf was the embodiment of that disappointment and it seemed that the rest of those years trying so hard perhaps all stemmed from that one moment.

          Chris shook his head, clearing his mind and repressing the thoughts once more, before he rolled over and stared up at his ceiling, wondering if this day would bring better news than the previous night. His breath caught for the briefest second as the reality of yesterday's events came flooding back, but as he clutched his chest and took several deep breaths, he brought his panicking heartbeat back down.

         "That happened..." He breathed as the room slowly came back into focus, and with it, the questions that plagued him last night.

          "Maybe the news will have more info about all this," but as he rose and reached over for the remote to his television, stopping just inches away.

          Another question now ran rampant through his mind: Did he want to know?

          Instead of an answer, a soft knock came, and the voice of his mother called out from the other side of his closed door.

         "Chris, honey, breakfast is done. Come on down and eat."

          "Alright, Mom. Be right down." He replied, setting the remote back down, and attempting to set his anxieties down with it.

          Chris stretched, feeling his joints pop and a satisfying sensation cover his body. He pulled the blanket and sheet away, sliding his bare legs out from underneath and onto the cold wooden floor. As his skin met with the cool touch of the floor, he gave the slightest recoil and grimaced as he placed his weight on his feet. He glanced at the clock beside his bed, yawning slightly as he registered the early morning hours.

          Undoubtedly, the school would've been canceled today in the wake of the disaster yesterday, but his mother was a creature of habit, so when seven came, she was already cooking breakfast. He smiled at the thought of her routine, of waking up to a hot breakfast and her loving smile, smirking at the week she left to go with her sister back when he was still in Elementary school.

         He rustled through his drawers, picking out his socks, pants, and shirt as he recalled those mornings. His dad frantically moved about the kitchen, trying and failing as he attempted to flip the pancake and ended up splattering half of it onto the floor. The eggs, attempted sunnyside up, resulted in a closer mixture of scrambled and the toast was a few degrees short of burnt. The breakfast might have been a disaster, Chris thought smiling, but that was the best week of his life. Spending every day with his dad, making breakfast together and enjoying the fun of their mutual failure, and ultimately just ordering pizza or takeout for dinner.